


Cross This Line

by theangelsace



Category: Holby City
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 15:45:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13461402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theangelsace/pseuds/theangelsace
Summary: Jac didn't like crossing the line between personal and professional, but perhaps she could make an exception





	Cross This Line

**Author's Note:**

> ((Brief mentions of the shooting))

There was a line in the sand, and right now Jac was looking at it.

The line was this – agreeing for Emma and her to stay with Fletch whilst her place was undergoing some renovations. On the one hand, it would only be for a few weeks, but that just meant she should have booked them a hotel to stay in for the time. An idea which had been pegged back the moment that she had mentioned it. Perhaps bringing her bags into the office hadn’t been the best idea. Then again, a small part of her could understand his reasoning; staying in a hotel, particularly the one that she had in mind wouldn’t be cheap. Not that would be much of a concern for her, and when that became apparent to Fletch as well, he hit her with his other argument for her staying with him. Emma. It would be good for her to spend time in a house filled with other children, and Jac knew her daughter was already friends with two out of four of the Fletcher children.

So, that evening after her shift had finished she packed her things into the car, and drove them round to Fletch’s place. Emma had been busy looking through the book they had borrowed from the library. Jac knew there would be some hassle when it came to returning it, but it wouldn’t last. Now that same book was threatening to fall under the seat, as Emma’s grip loosened as she slept.

As she drove, Jac made a promise to herself, that firstly they wouldn’t be there any longer than was necessary. And, perhaps more importantly whilst she was staying she would do her share around the place. After all, Fletch had refused to listen to any arguments of her paying any sort of rent during her time with him, so she would have to come up with some other method of repayment.

  
“Right then, here we are” she said as they pulled up outside the front of the house. The lights were on downstairs, curtains open. Jac let herself give a smile as she watched Fletch stand over his two oldest children as they worked on their homework. Whilst the other two sat on the other side of the table, armed with colouring pencils. And here was Jac, about to enter this perfect picture of a family she herself had never known.

  
Eventually, Jac convinced herself that this was the right thing and got herself out of the car. Her side was still a little painful, but it was far better than a month ago and she could now count down the days to when she’d finally get the stitches out. Jac unloaded the boot, she had managed this this morning, so there was nothing to say she couldn’t now. She put one bag on her back and the other over her shoulder, before she lifted Emma out. She began to stir as Jac lifted her out, but that was probably for the best, Jac knew from previous experience that if she allowed Emma to continue sleeping now, then getting her to sleep later would be a problem. Jac locked the car with her one free hand, before grabbing hold of her suitcase and dragging it up the garden path.

  
“What on earth do you think you’re doing?” she heard Fletch ask as he came rushing out of the house towards them.

  
“What does it look like” she responded.

  
“It looks like you’re being your usual stubborn self and refusing any offer of help” he replied

  
“You know me too well” Jac said. Just like she knew that he wouldn’t take no for an answer. So, she passed hold of the suitcase and one of the bags over to him, and followed him inside.

  
They put her things down in the hallway, and for Jac that included Emma who was now fully awake again. “Right, the boys have their room, Emma will be sharing with the girls, and…” Fletch began to explain, before he paused. Which led Jac’s mind to all sorts of thoughts; would she be sharing with Fletch? They were both adults, after all. Adults who worked closely together, and got along well. They could be professional about this she convinced herself. There was absolutely nothing in it. No, she thought to herself stop picturing yourself sharing a bed with Fletch, because her train of thought was starting down a very dangerous path, one that wouldn’t lead anywhere good. No, if anything she would be given an airbed to sleep on downstairs. Yes, that would be it, she decided. “And you’ll be in the guest room” he eventually finished, that smile, the one that over the past few weeks Jac had come to look forward to seeing across his face. “What, did you think you’d be sleeping on the sofa?” he asked. Clearly, the expression on her face was giving away more than she wanted.

  
“No” she replied, but she knew as soon as the word had left her mouth that it was a half-hearted effort.

  
“Well, if there wasn’t a spare room, you’d be sleeping in my room, and I’d be on the sofa” he said, leading them through to the kitchen/ dining room. It was warm, and so completely him that Jac could find no other way of describing it. The four children were still at the table, but by this point Evie was finished with her own homework, and had begun helping Mikey with his. Emma, meanwhile had already made her way over to Ella and Theo.

  
“Such a gentleman” she replied. She got another smile out of Fletch in reply.

  
This was dangerous, Jac told herself. She couldn’t allow for herself to become attached whilst she stayed here.

  
“There’s some spaghetti Bolognese in the pot if you want some” Fletch offered, as he gave Emma some paper and crayons to use.

  
“Umm…” she began. Honestly, she hadn’t been expecting him to leave them any food. If anything, she had thought that she’d be sorting out dinner for her and Emma.

  
“Don’t worry, I make an excellent spaghetti Bolognese” came a reply to her uncertainty. Only, the words didn’t come from Fletch. Instead it took her a moment to realise that the reply had come from Evie.

  
“It’s true” Mikey agreed, nodding his head enthusiastically.

  
“And that’s one of the few things that they agree on” Fletch added

  
“Well, in that case, we’d love some”

  
The rest of the evening had been much easier after that, Jac reflected the following morning as she worked her way through the pile of paperwork that was currently hiding her desk from her. It turned out that putting Emma to bed was far easier than she thought it was going to be, and she won the argument with Fletch that meant she would be washing up after Evie had also gone to bed. Not that she had given him of a choice in the matter. When it came time to take her stuff upstairs, however, she hadn’t put up as much of an argument as she might otherwise have done. If Fletch made anything of that, he didn’t say.

  
The guest room was by far the smallest in the house, with just a single bed and a wardrobe in there. It was clear that it was used more for storage than anything else, and that Fletch had hurriedly restacked the boxes in there so that Jac would have as much space as possible. The bedding was obviously fresh as well. It would do, she decided.

  
“It’s nothing special I know” Fletch began. He’s nervous, for some reason Jac thought. Nervous was never something she had thought of when it came to Fletch. A thorn in her side, yes. Nervous at what she made of him, or his place, never.

  
“It’s perfect” she found herself saying, and meaning it as well.

  
“Well, in that case good night Jac” Fletch said, before heading towards his own room,

  
“Night Fletch”

  
******************************  
She was finally making some progress with her work, when there was a knock on the door. “Come in”

  
Of course, it would be Fletch who strolled in, tablet and more paperwork in hand, as always.

  
“What do you want now?” to anyone else, that would be a clear sign that she was fed up and they better have a good reason for coming in and disturbing her. Not Fletch though, he took the greeting as one would take a ‘good morning’

  
“Nothing much” he said, closing the door behind him. “A signature on the discharge forms of three patients from bay one, and another from bay two” he began, handing her those first. All four of them were expected as out patients over the next few weeks, in the meantime they could send them home again with their medication. Jac still took a moment looking through each form before she signed off on them. “And as promised, the CT scan for Mr Hermes” he said, as the two of them swapped the forms for the tablet.  
At first, Jac struggled to pick up what was there, but after a moment she got there. There was a hole, one of the smallest she had ever seen in the left ventricle. It was easy enough for her to treat, in fact she could probably do the surgery this afternoon.

  
“All right, tell those four they’re free to go. As for Mr Hermes I’ll be out in a minute to discuss surgery with him” she said.

  
“As you wish” Fletch said with a bow, as he took the tablet back from her and left. Jac waited until the door was closed again, before allowing herself to laugh, after all, she doubted he needed any encouragement from her.

  
Jac finished her latest patient wait time report for Hansen, which was no different than the one from the previous month. He could think what he liked about it, at least it wasn’t any worse. Once that was emailed off, she had the excuse she had been waiting for to escape her office. Mr Hermes was one of the only patients now remaining in bay one, and clearly, he was relieved about that fact. Mr Hermes was in the middle of reading one of the Tom Clancy books when she walked in, but luckily didn’t have headphones on, so her clearing her throat caught his attention easily enough.

  
“So, what’s wrong with me?” he asked, marking his page, before setting the book down on the cabinet beside him. He had come in following a referral from his GP after several weeks of discomfort.

  
“Your CT showed a small hole in your left ventricle” she said.

  
“Ah, a quick patch and fix then” Mr Hermes said.

  
“Essentially yes” Jac replied. Most people reacted with some what more panic when she told them they had a hole in their heart. “I’ll do the surgery this afternoon to repair the hole, and all going well you’ll be free to leave within a few days”

  
“Sounds good to me” he said. “I bet you wish all your patients were this easy” he added.

  
“Only sometimes”

  
************

  
Jac returned to her office, having asked Mel, one of the nurses to sort through the consent forms for Mr Hermes, she had also offered to contact next of kin if he wanted. She checked her phone first, there was a message on there from Jonny, offering to take Emma for the weekend. She decided she could wait a little while before sending a reply.

  
“What are you doing in here?” she asked, finally noticing Fletch who had set up shop on the other desk.

  
“Hiding” he replied

  
“From…?” she asked

  
“Mrs Henderson” he answered, “That’s four times now she’s pinched my rear, and its barely eleven” he added with a shudder.

  
“Well just say the word, and I’ll be sure to come to your rescue” she offered, setting herself up at her own desk

  
“My knight in shining armour” Fletch said, hand on heart. That time Jac did let him see her smile at his antics, because if she was honest there was a small part of her that wanted to encourage him.

  
The two of them fell into an easy rhythm for the next hour, each of them working their way through their own pile of paperwork - occasionally talking about recent cases that they had worked on.

  
Eventually, they both had patients to check up on. Jac’s list was the lightest it had been for some time, with only five patients for her to work on now. Three of them were coma patients, who still weren’t showing any signs of improvement, it would get to the point soon where she would have to discuss options with the families. A part of her job that she hated, but one she had to do. Then there was Mrs Henderson, the patient that Fletch was hiding from – she was in for a mitral valve replacement the next day. Her surgery had already been cancelled twice, so there was no way Jac was going to allow that happen a third time.

  
“Just enjoying my last meal, dear” Mrs Henderson had said when Jac walked up to her bed. After that point she would be nil by mouth until after surgery. That day’s lunch looked like it left a lot to be desired, but in all fairness Mrs Henderson seemed to be enjoying it.

  
“Good, because we’re all set for surgery tomorrow afternoon after a few final little checks” Jac said.

  
“Will that nice young nurse be doing these checks?” she asked. Jac knew straight away what seventy-year-old Mrs Henderson was thinking.

  
“Only if you promise not to keep pinching his bottom” Jac said

  
“Jealousy isn’t a pretty look dear” Mrs Henderson said. “But I promise to behave myself”

  
Jac quickly made her excuses, and left. There was no way she had come off as jealous, Mrs Henderson was just teasing she convinced herself.

  
Her last patient was Mr Hermes, who was talking with Fletch when Jac walked in. He had already started going through the pre-op with him, so all she had to do was confirm Fletch hadn’t left anything out, and that he had signed his consent form. With all that sorted, Jac took her leave and returned to her office.

  
Fletch joined her a little while later, coffees and sandwiches in hand. She had long since stopped trying to tell him not to bring her lunch, apparently it wasn’t an argument she was going to win. So instead, she told him what she preferred, and at least that way she wouldn’t be stuck with something she didn’t like. On a few occasions, she had been the one to buy him lunch; on the days when he had been buried in paperwork from the moment he walked in, and there wasn’t any sign of him coming up for air anytime soon.

  
“Thanks” she said, as he set her coffee and chicken salad down on the space she had only just managed to make on her desk

  
“No problem” he replied, sitting himself at the other desk. Thankfully his own choice for lunch was less of an assault on her senses than was usual.

  
“Take one mint after lunch and you can join me in theatre later” she offered

  
“Just the one?” Fletch asked. “Normally you make me have at least three before you let me join you in theatre”

  
“What can I say, maybe I’m starting to get soft” Jac said with a shrug

  
“Now you’re just scaring me” Fletch replied, but she knew he meant it in jest, which was made all the clearer when she saw that he had his hand on heart once again. “But after this lot, I would do pretty much anything if it meant I could get out of doing all this” he said, gesturing to his own work load.

  
By some agreement they had continued working through their lunch, but that seemed to have been put to one side for the moment, as they toed this line. The one they had been getting ever closer to since Fletch had helped her recover from her bullet wound.

  
“Well, you knew what you were signing yourself up for” Jac said, knowing he wouldn’t take it the wrong way. Or at least hoping he wouldn’t.

  
“Yeah…” Fletch said

  
“Anyway” Jac said, deciding to change the subject “You’re doing the pre-op checks on Mrs Henderson tomorrow morning” she announced.

  
The look of pure fear on his face was worth the wait, she had to admit. The getting up out of his chair, and kneeling on the floor by her desk, hands clasped was somewhat unexpected. “No, please – anything but that” he begged.

  
Despite her best efforts, Jac found herself laughing.

  
“Don’t worry, she’s promised to be on her best behaviour” Jac eventually said.

  
“I still think I’m being punished for something” he said, as he got up off the floor “I didn’t snore did I?” he asked

  
“What? No” she answered. His room was the one next to hers, and the walls were thin, but she hadn’t heard anything.

  
“Alright then” Fletch agreed.

  
With that settled they got back to work until it came time to take Mr Hermes into surgery.

  
**************

  
Jac finished work before Fletch that day, so she picked Emma up from the creche, along with Theo having taken the car seat from Fletch’s car and took them back to the house. The others were with the sitter, and would be picked up by Fletch.

  
“How about a little snack” she said to the two children, who had already started taking some toys out of the box in the corner of the room. When no reply came, Jac set up some carrot sticks and a drink for them each on the table, just in case.

  
She had decided to make them all a shepherd’s pie for dinner that evening, and no one was here to stop her from doing so. It took a few minutes before she managed to find everything she needed, thankfully they had everything she needed.

  
First, she peeled and chopped the potatoes, putting them into the saucepan. Once that was done, she cleared away the peelings into the veg waste bin that Fletch had shown her that morning. Emma and Theo meanwhile, were happy playing with the Lego they had found. So, Jac started the potatoes, before putting the mince on so that could brown off. With those both ok for the time being she peeled and chopped half a pack of carrots, before making the mix for the shepherd’s pie. When she was sure that the mince was cooked she drained off the fat, and quickly washed any remaining out of the pan, before putting it back in before adding in the mix and the veg. With that done, she cleared up what mess there was, before going over to join Emma and Theo for a few minutes.

  
“Can you take these apart, please?” Theo asked, handing her two stubborn looking pieces of Lego.

  
“Of course,” she said, giving them back to him. Before she knew what was happening Jac found herself helping the two of them building a house out of Lego, complete with garage. And she wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but she was enjoying herself.

  
“Mummy, the water’s trying to get out that pot” Emma said, a while later.

  
Quickly Jac rushed back over to the oven, and turned the potatoes down. She had been so caught up with what she was doing with the two children, that she had completely forgotten about the food – the mince was already on low to begin with, so that was fine. The potatoes were ready as well by that point, so Jac set about making the mash. There was something about squashing the potatoes which she enjoyed, it was like a form of anger management – one where the only thing getting hurt was a vegetable. With that Jac poured the mince into a cooking pot, before spreading the mash over the top and put it into the oven. She washed up the pans she had used to cook the mince and potatoes and went back over to Emma and Theo, who by now were bored with the Lego, and told her as much. So, Jac got some paper and colouring pencils out for them.

  
“I don’t want to hear another word, just go to your room please” she heard Fletch say, as he came in. Clearly something was going on, and Jac found herself curious to find out what that was.

  
Fletch walked into the kitchen, followed by Evie and Ella; so, Mikey had been the one to be sent upstairs. The two of them put their school bags away, before joining Emma and Theo.

  
“So, what happened?” Jac found herself asking, before she could stop herself.

  
“Mikey decided it would be a good idea to scratch his name into his desk” Fletch said “So, he spent an hour in detention, so the sitter had to go back to pick him up” he explained.

  
Jac decided that it had been a long day, and that they wouldn’t talk any more about it, so instead she dried off the pans and put them away.

  
“I’m hungry” Emma announced.

  
“Oh, well…” Fletch began

  
“Dinner will be ready soon enough” Jac said, much to Fletch’s obvious surprise. “I made a Shepherd’s pie” she said, in answer to the confused look on Fletch’s face.  
“You really do know your way to a man’s heart” he said.

  
Over dinner, Evie told them about her day at school and that their gran had invited the four of them around for the weekend. It really, didn’t take a lot of effort for Fletch to agree to the idea. It also reminded Jac of the text she had yet to reply to. So, she quickly did that “Emma, you’ll be spending the weekend with your dad” she said. She knew how much Emma looked forward to the weekends she spent with Jonny, so she wasn’t going to deny her this.

  
“Just you and me this weekend then” Fletch said.

  
************************************

  
Jac spent the rest of the week wondering what on earth she had gotten herself in for; and considering that it was only Tuesday when she realised it was just her and Fletch that weekend there was plenty of time for her to think about it.

  
The week had gone far too quickly for Jac’s liking, and now that prospect was only a few short hours away. Emma’s bag and everything else she would need for the weekend were currently taking up space in Jac’s office, as Jonny was coming by to pick her up at the end of the day. As for the Fletcher kids, they were all being picked up by their gran from one place or the other. It meant that as soon as they got in that evening it would just be the two of them.

  
Just the two of them, after nearly a week of being in a house filled with five kids – and Jac didn’t know whether she should be dreading the idea or not. There was always the possibility of course that she could say she was running behind on her work, and had to spend the weekend in the hospital, but there was the part of her that knew that Fletch wouldn’t buy that for a second. Not with Frieda having freed up her time by taking on half her case load.

  
So, not knowing what else to do Jac found herself heading down to AAU to visit Valentine. Over the past few weeks his progress had improved far more than any of them would have expected. When Jac entered the side room where he was staying, Ollie and Donna were going over a patient’s notes. It took a moment before either of them realised that she was there.

  
“We really should get you a bell” Ollie said, causing Donna to jump up from where she had been sat on the edge of the bed.

  
“I’ll let that one slide” Jac said

  
“We didn’t hear you come in” Donna added, somewhat unnecessarily, but Jac decided to let it pass.

  
Instead, she asked Donna if she could have a few moments alone with Ollie. Once Donna had closed the door behind her, Jac realised that she had no idea as to how she was going to begin this conversation.

  
“Well, out with-it Naylor, some of us have things to do today” Ollie said, after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

  
So, Jac decided to start at the beginning. Though she wasn’t all that certain when that was, just that it was sometime before the shooting. Perhaps it was when Fletch had comforted her as she finally let herself let out what she had been feeling since Jasmine’s death; and she realised afterwards that if anyone was going to see her like that she was just glad it had been him. Maybe it was all the little things, that he always seemed to know what she needed. She didn’t know. Then there was her recovery following the shooting; waking up after each surgery she had to go through to find him smiling at the end of the bed, and how he had never missed one of her physio sessions. And as much as she was loathed to admit it at first, she had been glad of his support.

  
“Wow” Ollie said.

  
Jac wasn’t finished though, she still had this past week to tell him about, and how it had been so much better than she had been expecting. Emma had taken no time at all to settling in, and even Jac herself had quickly grown accustomed to life in Fletcher’s house. They had even gotten into a good routine together already, just like they had on Darwin. She told Ollie about how comfortable she felt when Fletch was around, that the flirting and the banter that the two had been sharing, and how easy,natural even, it was.  
Now it was Ollie’s turn to sit there in shocked silence, and it terrified Jac, because she had just come in here and told someone what was going on with her.

  
“Well…” Ollie began “I’d suggest talking to him, but this is you were talking about here”

  
“Yeah, this is new territory for me as well” Jac said. She had known that from the moment she had walked in the room.

  
By this point Jac had taken the seat besides the bed, and so now they were both sat there in silence thinking about what she had said. Eventually, it was Ollie who broke the silence. “We were both shot, right” he began

  
“Always with the obvious Valentine” Jac said

  
“Well…” he continued, clearly having decided to ignore that remark. “If it was me, I wouldn’t want to just not do anything”

  
That was exactly what Jac had spent all week thinking about, and now she had someone suggesting it.

  
“Well, thanks for the talk, Valentine” Jac said as she got up to leave.

  
“Jac” Ollie said, as she was opening the door causing her to turn around “Talk to him”

  
Jac just nodded her head, and left.

  
*************************************

  
By the end of the day, Jac knew what she wanted to do.

  
She found Fletch getting changed in the locker room, he himself had spent the day in scrubs helping Frieda out in surgery. So, it wasn’t since that morning that she really had any opportunity to see him.

  
He was just putting his t-shirt on when he noticed that she had walked in, and all he did was smile and ask her how her day had been.

  
“What no quip about me needing a bell?” Jac said

  
“What?” he asked, “No, course not”

  
And Jac knew that was the truth.

  
Before she knew it, there was almost no space between them. Now, the look of confusion on Fletch’s face was for an entirely different reason.

  
“I’ve been thinking about this weekend” came the first confession. Only it didn’t come from Jac.

  
It should have come as a surprise, but it didn’t. It came as a surprise when Jac reached out and removed a piece of fluff from Fletch’s collar; it was a line, and Jac had just crossed it. Maybe she could take it back, but she didn’t want to. It seemed, thankfully Fletch didn’t, because he was brushing a loose strand of hair back behind her ear.

  
“About how we’ll be alone” Jac continued for him.

  
“About us” Fletch finished.

  
Instead of moving his hand away, it was still placed on the left side of Jac’s face and she hadn’t flinched away. If anything, she had leaned into the touch. Jac knew it was cliched, but she honestly couldn’t say which of them was the first to move, just that suddenly, they were kissing. Only, if Jac was honest with herself, it wasn’t.

  
It seemed to Jac that they had been leading up to this. One of his hands, were on her back, pulling her close; the other was still on her face, thumb tracing down her cheek. Jac for her part, didn’t know what to with hers. Eventually she settled on putting them round his neck.

  
It was no where near enough, because now they had crossed this line Jac found she didn’t care anymore, she just wanted more. And then realised where they were.

  
“We can’t” she said as she pulled away, as much as she didn’t want to.

  
“Why?” Fletch asked, sounding about as disappointed as she felt.

  
“If we’re going to do this, we can’t do it here” she pointed out. There was every possibility that someone could walk in on them, and before they knew it word would be all over the hospital. Something, which Jac had more than enough experience of already.

  
“You’re right” Fletch conceded. “I hate to say it, but you’re right”

  
“I’m always right” Jac replied “It’s something you’re going to have to learn quickly”

  
“I think I learned that weeks ago” Fletch said, grabbing his bag.

  
“Good” Jac smiled, as did Fletch “Let’s get out of here”


End file.
